California has 58 counties and 482 incorporated cities across the state, each with the option to create its own rules or ban marijuana altogether. In this California Cannabis Countdown series, we cover who is banning cannabis, who is embracing cannabis (and how), and everyone in between. For each city and county, we’ll discuss its location, history with cannabis, current law, and proposed law to give you a clearer picture of where to locate your California cannabis business, how to keep it legal, and what you will and won’t be allowed to do.

Location. San Jose is the third most populous city in California and the largest city in Northern California. Located south of San Francisco and Oakland, San Jose is the county seat of Santa Clara county and the soon to be home of a massive new campus for Apple. San Jose is also home to the San Jose Sharks (get them next year) and the fervent fans of the San Jose Earthquakes.

History with Cannabis: Back in 2011, the City Council began the process to enact a land use and regulatory ordinance to govern medical marijuana operations. Unfortunately, the City Council ended up suspending the land use ordinance and then repealing the regulatory ordinance – the effect of which meant that all medical marijuana collectives, cooperatives, and dispensaries operating in San Jose were doing so illegally. Then in June of 2014, the San Jose City Council passed their Medical Marijuana Program (“MMP”). The MMP was an amended attempt to correct the City’s failure to pass a medical marijuana ordinance back in 2011. The MMP went into effect on July 18, 2014 and gave medical collectives up until October 17, 2014 to submit their applications with the City.

At the time the MMP was passed there were an estimated 78 collectives operating in the San Jose, of which 50 collectives submitted applications with the City. Of those 50 medical marijuana collectives that submitted applications, only 16 were able to successfully navigate the application process and maintain their license in compliance with the San Jose’s regulations. Since the passage of the MMP, there have been no new cannabis licenses issued — only the 16 registered collectives have been authorized to cultivate, manufacture, and sell medical cannabis within city limits.

In November of 2017, the City Council passed Ordinances 30029 and 30030 authorizing adult-use cannabis activities. However, the adult-use ordinances did not open up licensing to new applicants — it only allowed the previously registered medical collectives to operate as adult-use businesses as well. These registered collectives have had a really good run as the only cannabis operators in town (legal operators anyway) but that may change as the City Council is considering opening registration to new cannabis operators for the first time since the MMP.

Proposed Cannabis Laws: This Monday, May 21 (6pm at City Hall), the City Council will hold a public hearing to discuss allowing new cannabis businesses to register and operate in San Jose. The City Council is considering allowing new businesses to register for the following types of cannabis licenses:

Manufacturing (volatile and non-volatile).

Distribution.

Testing laboratories.

Additional cultivation licenses are not currently on the agenda.

These are just the additional stages of the discussion that’s set to take place. It’s still to be determined whether the City will cap the number of additional licenses (or remove some of the proposed license types altogether) so it’s especially important for cannabis entrepreneurs to show up on May 21st and voice their opinions. All in all, it’s about time that new cannabis businesses get a chance to enter the cannabis market of California’s third largest city.